Campaign raise questions about Winfield sign ordinance

Campaign signs for a candidate in Winfield's heated village president race have sparked a debate over whether the town's existing sign law is toothless.

Village leaders say they believe dozens of political signs supporting Tony Reyes could be in violation of Winfield's long-standing sign ordinance because they are either too large or have been up for too long. According to that law, campaign signs must be no more than six square feet and can't be up longer than 30 days.

But Reyes says his attorneys have advised him that the law is poorly written, unenforceable and violates the constitutional rights of residents who have the political signs on their properties.

"The residents want change, and they are openly stating it by putting these signs on their private property, which is key," said Reyes, who is in a four-person contest against Village President Rudy Czech and Trustees Deborah Birutis and Angel Oakley.

"You can't tell people what to put on their private property," Reyes said. "You can tell them, but you can't do anything about it."

However, Birutis said the village's legal council has advised that the sign ordinance is enforceable.

Board members tonight are expected to weigh in on whether the village should take action against any signs deemed to be illegal.

"As a board member, it is my job to enforce the ordinances and to not cease enforcement simply because a resident chooses to bully the village," Birutis said.

Czech agreed, saying that he believes some of Reyes' signs started appearing "way too early" around town.

"It's a local election," he said. "We're not running for president of the United States."

Still, Reyes says it would be ill-advised for board members to enforce the law now after what he claims has been years of ignoring illegal campaign signs.

"It would show just how incompetent they are as a board if they pursue this," he said.

Oakley said she agrees with Reyes that the sign law is poorly written and needs to be updated.

However, she said, candidates should adhere to the law until it's formally changed.

"I think that it's very brazen for somebody to just say, 'The law's poorly written. I'm not going to follow it.'" she said. "That's not the type of person you want running your village."

Reyes said he told the village staff months ago that the law needed to be changed. If he's elected, he's going to make sure that change happens.

"As village president, I will never enforce an ordinance that is unconstitutional and unenforceable," he said. "In fact, I will do everything in my power to eliminate nuisance ordinances that are selectively applied against the citizens of Winfield."